Field
The disclosed concept relates generally to load centers including electrical switching apparatus such as, for example, circuit breakers. The disclosed concept further relates to bus assemblies for load centers. The disclosed concept further relates to methods of operating a load center.
Background
Electrical enclosures, such as, for example, load centers, typically include a number of electrical switching apparatus or electrical meters. The load center is typically coupled to and supported by a structure such as, for example, a wall of a building, and includes a number of electrical bus members. Residential load centers, for example, include a number of electrical bus members having a plurality of elongated bus stabs extending outwardly therefrom. Typically, a plurality of circuit breakers or other suitable electrical switching apparatus are mechanically coupled and electrically connected to the elongated bus stabs and, in turn, to the electrical bus members within the electrical enclosure.
In known load centers, there is nothing to prevent the circuit breakers from being removed, live, while carrying rated current. Removing the circuit breakers while under a load and live can cause an arc to result in open air and potentially in close proximity to the face and hands of an operator performing maintenance. One known method to address this issue is to de-energize a main circuit breaker in the load center. However, de-energizing the main circuit breaker is inconvenient and inefficient in that all of the branch circuit breakers are in turn de-energized. But if the main circuit breaker is not disconnected and a branch circuit breaker is removed, significant energized metal, including bus stabs, can become undesirably exposed, thereby presenting an electrical hazard.
There is thus room for improvement in load centers, and in bus assemblies and operating methods therefor.